Day of Infamy AAR - Feinder vs. Ngineer (no Ngineers allowed)

[Feinder]

9-13-1942

Losses, Builds, Research, Economy

Losses - USMC-Div destroyed at Guadalcanal.

Builds - No new builds. A Garrison unit will be arriving next turn.

Research - Fighters(2) and Production(2) both completed. Looks like InfantryWeaps will complete in next turn or so.

Economy - Solomons convoy was disrupted, but that's not a big deal. The MPP hit for Garrisons and AAA is still active. The units are welcome, the MPP hit is not.

Note that, Ngineer is activated for post-Debby response. So it might be a few days before he gets back.

[Feinder]

10-3-1942

Burma

It's fair to say that, this is pretty much a stale (over-land) front at this point. Some skirmishes as Yenangyaung, which with two units adjacent, will begin to decrease their output. I've moved up an SNLF-Div, which should be able to dislodge the Aussie Corps north of it (thus relieve the 2-unit disruption of the mine). Even with two HQ units, it's pretty hard to get ample supplies in Burma, which probably isn't that far off the mark anyway.

The Royal Navy Sub was still poking around, so I drove it under again with Tactical Bombers. Invasion for Andaman has been loaded, and the port at Adaman has been destroyed (just to insure no sneaking in of reinforcements). I actually did NOT want to just park a CA or BB off Andy, and let his sub get a free shot.

Invasion will land next turn. It's really not that critical, but it erodes his British National Morale, and every little bit helps.

[Feinder]

10-3-1942

Dutch East Indies

Welcome to the "whack-a-mole" portion of the game. With a really big empire, obviously there are plenty of un-defended landing spots. "Somebody" landed at Soerabaja in Java. I transported in an SNLF-Div to contain his advance. It might cost me the oil field but defending the city and behind the river should hold until I can get more forces ashore. Meanwhile, I've moved in a Heavy Cruiser, two Battleships, and a Light Carrier into the DEI. He'll get next turn to land reinforcements at the port (ugh), but I should be able to close it next turn (somewhat depending on what he's got covering his landing force).

[Feinder]

10-3-1942

China

In the north, I feel like his siege at Kalgan is king of spent. He pulled back one of his Nationalist Chinese Armies, and should be able to dislodge the (Army + Corps) that he has remaining at the gates.

We went full-throttle into the Central Plain, with a Comm-Chi Army and also a Nat-Chi Army. Counter-attacks by our Imperial forces managed to destroy the Comm-Chi Army, and the Nat-Chi is now cut off. I think both will have been at <5 supply, so they'll be very expensive to replace (and the Comm-Chi certainly don't have the MPPs to replace their Army). That's a good win for me.

A little further south, he tried to dislodge my Garrison from the (former) Comm-Chi base, but was unsuccessful. After cutting off the Nat/Com Chi Armies, I shifted an IJA Army to Zengzauh (near the Comm-Chi base), and have struck northward from Shiyan, to flank him.

His forces in Center, near Wuhan also signs of cracking. I advanced an Army south, and threaten his town/supply at Ychang. Also combined attacks almost(!) managed to wipe out one of his Armies. Meanwhile, another of my Armies attacked across the river near Changsha, further weakening his position.

He did make a strong counter-attack in the south near Nanning, forcing me to pull back one of my Armies. But now his own Army and Corps are weakened. This MIGHT be an opportunity to take one of them out. We'll see what the new turn brings.

[Feinder]

10-3-1942

South Pacific and Strategic Map

South Pacific

The waters around the Solomons and the Coral Sea were quite busy. There are probably too many lines on the map, but I don't feel like re-drawing it at this point.

Allied turn started with multiple airstrikes by USN CVs against the port at Guadalcanal. The Heavy Cruiser Tone was (just) destroyed at her moorings. Of some consolation, the Carrier Strike Groups suffered fairly heavy casualties (about 3-4 steps each), so that should largely blunt his CAGs.

He was also aware of my Sub in the Coral Sea, and sent an Australian DD and a MTB after it, heavily damaging it. (You can see at 5xSP and still adjacent to his MTB, he'll get a free depth-charge attack against it start of his next turn).

He also ran a fighter-sweep over our base at Rabaul, but (fortunately), the results were inconclusive.

With the Coral Sea now "scouted" by the Americans, he pushed up an invasion force at Buin (unopposed), and parked a USN Light Cruiser in the slot, presumably to block off Guadalcanal (implies a subsequent invasion).

Deep breath, that was busy! Fortunately I have significant fleet assets in theater at/near Truk...

I didn't have a closing spotting report on his CVs after their strikes, so I presume he'll have moved them back towards Brisbane and ports along East Australia (where he can repair his CAGs fully, whereas at Noumea, he cannot). I'd be dropping bombs in the dark from my own CVs, so I prioritized on taking out the ships that I did have spotted (CL, DD, MTBs).

My initial strike from Betty's at Rabaul, showed that his CL was out of range of his fighter coverage at Lae. I moved Battleship into The Slot, and crippled the Light Cruiser, and it was sunk by a strike by one of my Carriers. I then hit his RAN Destroyer with strike by same CV, and a follow-up attack by another Battleship sank the RN Destroyers. His torpedo boats were too far south to engage with my own surface units, and I wanted to think in terms of top-cover given that we know still has (2x CVs, possibly a 3rd + Med-Bmbrs north of Rabaul). That 5-7 Allied air-strikes to worry about.

I zoomed in a squadron of Fighters into Guadalcanal. A pushed my remaining Carrier set to "Intercept" (she is also upgraded to Fighter-2). That'll give me 4 intercepts (as my other carrier is set to "bomb" and will not intercept). The thin yellow lines are the over-lap of my CAP coverage. I deliberately did NOT cover Rabaul, because I didn't want him draining off my intercepts by using fighter sweeps vs. Rabaul.

And almost as a side note, there was a Allied Sub prowling about SE of my fleet. We almost(!) sank it also, taking it down to 1x SP before it dropped into Run Silent and headed home.

Strategic Map

Marked know fleet and LBA assets, and his 4 "incursions".

[Feinder]

10-3-1942

Losses, Builds, Research, Economy

Losses - USN Light Cruiser, Comm-Chi Inf-Army, RAN Destroyer vs IJN Heavy Cruiser.
I feel like if I had sunk that Sub, I'd call it even. But losing a CA kinda sucks.

Builds - No new builds. No reinforcements next turn.

Research - I should get Inf-Weaps(2) next turn. Sweet. Now I just have to find the MPPs to upgrade stuff!

Economy - MPPs are finally back over 400, as the only drain was the AAA units.

[Feinder]

10-23-1942

Burma

Invasion at Andaman Island lands unopposed. A welcome hit to British NM.

In the north, Allied forces concentrated attacks again on our Army at the Mines. Our forces held. Kaga and Akagi launch strikes to cripple the AVG Flying Tigers (many SPs destroyed, but unit still intact).

Most of our Naval forces have been diverted to the Dutch East Indies (see next post).

[Feinder]

10-23-1942

Dutch East Indies

Action Points are fickle thing. We spotted his transports, unloading an HQ unit at the (damaged) port of Soerbaja. Our submarine attacked, but did not score any hits (I presume some protection from the port). I moved up a Battleship to smash the thing, but that island hex blocks the attack on the port (ugh). I also couldn't enter the straight to the SW, because of Allied control. However, my sub used it last action points, in that hex, so the sub is squatting on the attack hex for the transport. Frustrating, but it is, what it is.

My SNLF-Div had favorable odds, so I attacked his Aussie Inf-Corps. Also sent another Battleship to the south of Java to bombard the city of Soerabaja (reduce the supply), the bombardment was successful, and then encountered a Royal Navy Destroyer. Would love to have clubbed it with my BB, but at least we know it's there. Next brought in a Heavy Cruiser from Singapore to paste the Destroyer... Found Royal Navy Battleship. Well, found the British fleet. Was an even exchange with the Cruiser vs. BB. I'm aware that he's got a RN Carrier as well, so I moved in my CVL to provide CAP for my surface group.

[Feinder]

10-23-1942

China

This pic isn't quite right (was making this slide, after turn passed, had to re-watch the replay).

More fighting in the Center, near the Comm-Chi base. He did destroy my Garrison there. He did however take heavy casualties, and I pummeled one of his Inf-Corps down to 1sp, almost(! grr) killing it. The incorrect part of the pic is the battle against the Chinese Inf-Army. Remember the Inf-Army that was cut off last turn? He was killed (not shown on this pic, because I don't feel like re-making the pic).

More attacks at Wuhan and Nanning. And my attack on his flank at Wuhan was disappointing. I was really hoping to smash his Garrison there, esp after 2 turns, but no such luck.

[Feinder]

10-23-1942

South Pacific and Strategic Map

It's fair to say that the waters around Rabaul and the Coral Sea was/is a free-for-all.

US troops landed on both to East and West of Rabaul. Allied forces landing to the West, destroyed our squadron of Medium bombers (crud), and occupied the airfield. US assets, including two carriers, pushed back into the Coral Sea, sinking the Kongo and a hunter-killer group heavily damaged I-19 off New Guinea.

Surface groups also broke thru the screen, and heavily damaged both Junyo and Soryu (see pic). My CVs were actually further south at the time, and this pic is from the end of of the turn. A heavy blockade was also set around the port of Rabaul by several Cruisers and Battleships, and attempting to trap my CVs. Several strikes by Junyo and Soryu, supported by Patrol Bombers from Truk, managed to break out my CVs from the Coral Sea (retreated them north to positions shown), and sank a USN Battleship and two USN Heavy Cruisers.

Note that IJN fleet in SoPac has been very shot-up, and I'm just trying to disengage at this point. It was all I could do, to clear a path to get my CVs as far north as I could (shown on pic).


Strategic Map

Relative positions of assets. Note that, esp the IJN fleet in Sopac is over-represented because many of the ships are crippled.

[Feinder]

10-13-1942

Losses, Builds, Research, Economy

Losses - China 1x Inf-Army. USN (1x BB, 2x CA). IJN (Med-Bmbr and 1x BB), and 1x Garrison.

Builds - No builds. No reinforcements.

Research - Infantry-2 is nice, just need MPPs and room to upgrade...

Economy - You can see the hit from the loss of the Oil Fields in Java. Still, over 400mpps is welcome.

[Tanaka]

10-23-1942

South Pacific and Strategic Map

It's fair to say that the waters around Rabaul and the Coral Sea was/is a free-for-all.

US troops landed on both to East and West of Rabaul. Allied forces landing to the West, destroyed our squadron of Medium bombers (crud), and occupied the airfield. US assets, including two carriers, pushed back into the Coral Sea, sinking the Kongo and a hunter-killer group heavily damaged I-19 off New Guinea.

Surface groups also broke thru the screen, and heavily damaged both Junyo and Soryu (see pic). My CVs were actually further south at the time, and this pic is from the end of of the turn. A heavy blockade was also set around the port of Rabaul by several Cruisers and Battleships, and attempting to trap my CVs. Several strikes by Junyo and Soryu, supported by Patrol Bombers from Truk, managed to break out my CVs from the Coral Sea (retreated them north to positions shown), and sank a USN Battleship and two USN Heavy Cruisers.

Note that IJN fleet in SoPac has been very shot-up, and I'm just trying to disengage at this point. It was all I could do, to clear a path to get my CVs as far north as I could (shown on pic).


Strategic Map

Relative positions of assets. Note that, esp the IJN fleet in Sopac is over-represented because many of the ships are crippled.

Love the SoPac action!

[Feinder]

Quick update.

Ngineer is back, and has been sending me turns.
I'm actually 3 turns behind in updates (it takes some time to do all the maps and narratives).
But I should get caught up this weekend.

Thanks for "watching", and stay tuned!

[OldCrowBalthazor]

Right on! Yes there much work to produce a decent AAR, and yours are always excellent.

[Feinder]

11-12-1942

Burma

Heavy fighting in the north of Burma. The Allies launch an offensive aimed at dislodging our defenders at Yenangyaung. Or defending Army takes significant casualties, but hold the position. Of the attacking Allied forces, a Chinese formation is badly mauled, and left vulnerable to counter-attack. Several strikes by our land-based air additionally disrupt the Chinese force, and subsequent our forces at Yenangyaung are combined with a fresh SNLF-Div assault the Chinese Inf-Army and destroy it.

[Feinder]

11-12-1942

Dutch East Indies

The IJA lands additional ground forces on Java and attack the Australian incursion at Padang. The Australian HQ successfully lands at Soerabaja, so we'll need to quash this Allied attack quickly.

Having spotted several Royal Navy vessels last turn, just south of Java, I presumed that they retreated back south towards the friendly ports of the Australian coast. With some degree of risk, I pushed my CVL Shoho deliberately south into the midst of where I believed the British fleet to be. Indeed, Shoho found the British fleet and engaged the HMS Warspite. Both ships were damaged (Shoho -3sp), but the remaining British fleet units were illuminated by the 4-hex spotting radius of Shoho. I was able to then move up additional fleet units, and which were able to destroy the RN Carrier and the Warspite. Two remaining Royal Navy destroyers have been cut off from Australia, so I'm hopeful to destroy the two survivors next turn.

[Feinder]

11-12-1942

China

I took the opportunity in China, to upgrade what units I could to Inf-Weapons(2).

He also re-occupied the Comm-Chi enclave with a Nationalist Chinese Inf-Corps. However, with it moving into a low-supply, non-entrenched position, I was able to destroy it before it was able to entrench into the position.

He attacked my forward Inf-Army at Wuhan, doing heavy casualties (-5sp), and forcing it to retreat. As my flank attack at Yichang came to naught, I've shifted the Inf-Army to hold the mountains NW of Wuhan (thus exerting Zoc), while I move in my second Inf-Army to occupy/hold the city. I feel like this will hold him for now until I get my guys dug into the city.

And then some additional skirmishing in the south near the Hengyang Mines and near Liuzhou (but essentially to little effect).

[Feinder]

11-12-1942

South Pacific and Strategic Map

Oi. This was kinda painful to watch.

The attached map doesn't really accurately describe battle. When I take these pics, they're end-of-turn. Suffice to say it was another chaotic melee. The USN surface forces continued to press the attack against my Southern Fleet. You will recall that, many of my ships were already damaged from last turn (not reflected in the counters that I had to pull from previous screen-caps). The Allied surface units (mostly Battleships) were able to push into and through my own units (damaged and/or no ZoC). In total, the US Navy sank/finished off the destruction of (2x CVs, 1x BB, 1x CA, 1x DD, 1x SS). Again, it was really a massive surface battle (my damaged CVs were in fact sunk by his Battleships). He did have one Carrier launch strikes from the south, which finished off my damaged Battleship. But it was almost entirely surface forces. That sucked to watch. I wasn't entirely surprised at the strength of his counter-attack, esp given that many of my ships were already damaged. But I didn't expect him to take out as much of my SoPac fleet as he did.

In a feeble departing punch, the IJN was able to sink a USN Battleship off Rabaul, but the trade of the turn was certainly lop-sided. He definitely earned this one though, esp having taken it on the chin for so many turns previously.

Of no consolation, the remains of our SNLF-Div at Rabaul was able to attack his (unsupplied) American Inf-Corps, and wipe it out. Our defenders at Rabaul won't hold much longer though, but there's not much I can do about it. That Airfield where his Tanks are, will provide him with supply, while his Mari-Bmbr at Lorengau continues to decrease supply at Rabaul (I'm not pulling anything from the Port, since he's at the airfield).

Again, not thrilled with this turns results. But I suppose it's better to "trade" ships in 42/43, rather than just having them crushed at 4:1 odds in 1944. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself.


Strategic Map

Reflects the known and relative assets. SoPac fleet has been considerably diminished.

[Feinder]

11-12-1942

Losses, Builds, Research, Economy

Losses:
Royal Navy - 1x Battleship, 1x Carrier
US Navy - 1x Battleship, 1x Inf-Corps
China - 1x Inf-Army, 1x Inf-Corps
Japan - 2x Carriers, 1x Battleship, 1x Heavy Cruiser, 1x Destroyer, 1x Submarine

Builds - Rebuilt a Garrison. Next turn will receive a Mari-Bmbr and 2x Garrisons.

Research - Both ASW(1) and Naval Weaponry(2) should arrive next turn. Frankly, I doubt I'll spend anything more on Research at this point. Anything started would probably not activate until end-of-1943.

Economy - I hit "alt-printscreen", instead of "cntl-printscreen", which had the result of dismissing the pop-up with the MPP intakes, before the screen-cap. So I can only guesstimate that I pulled in about 430 MPPs.

[Feinder]

12-2-1942

Burma

More intense fighting near Yenangyaung. The Allies press forward launching attacks with 2x Inf-Corps, and a Lt. Armoured-Div. Our exhausted IJN Inf-Army holds but we're forced to pull them back for replacements. The Japanese push up a fresh (and newly equipped) Thai Inf-Corps onto the line. Supported again by land-based air, the Thai Corps and SNLF-Div attack and wreck an Australian Inf-Corps.